}

Force from water

2001/12/10 Galarraga Aiestaran, Ana - Elhuyar Zientzia

Scientists have long sought an effective method to extract hydrogen from water. In this way, a cheap and clean fuel would be obtained. Although the trials carried out so far have not been successful, recently the Japanese researcher Zhigang Zou and his team have realized an important step.

In fact, the separation of the water molecule is not easy. It can be done with electricity, but this way is not environmentally suitable, since normally the processes of obtaining electricity are pollutants. On the other hand, although photocatalysts using ultraviolet light are quite efficient, most of the solar energy is in a visible light, so its use would be much better. Unfortunately, the photocatalysts used in visible light were very unstable, so they have not been able to stay for a long time.

Now, however, they have presented a very sustainable photocatalyst and that is not degraded with use. Like most photocatalysts that work in visible light, it is made of oxide metal. The effectiveness of the photocatalyst depends on the amount of the oxide contained in the Indian, Tantalum, and nickel. If you immerse yourself in the water in the light of the sun, it produces oxygen and hydrogen, and although for the moment it defeats 99% of the solar energy, it is expected to increase its efficiency. If so, it would soon be marketed and would be willing to replace natural gas and other energy sources. In fact, it is a clean, cheap and multi-purpose energy source. For example, the use of fuel cells for the generation of electricity would allow the creation of non-polluting electric vehicles.

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